Hermione Always Had a Plan
by dakotamidnighttx
Summary: Hermione always had a plan, and normally a backup plan too. That's how she stayed so levelheaded in emergencies and was always prepared. Today was one of those days when her backup backup plan had to be put into use. Rated M to be on the safe side, but mostly a strong T rating.


Chapter 1: The really bad day

It had been a terrible day – the kind you need to drink Felix Felicis to get rid of. First, she woke late to the shouts of teachers that the castle was being attacked, then as the battle raged around her she was hit with a curse cutting her hair unevenly as she ducked to avoid being cut herself. "Darn it I just got my hair to look good," she cried, still throwing curses at any death eaters she saw. Moreover, to top it off Harry and Ron were taken captive by Death Eaters to who knows where. No, she really wasn't having a good day. And she had a feeling it was about to get worse.

Professor McGonagall's patronus appeared "Go to Plan H now Hermione and hurry!" and Hermione apparated away. She and Professor McGonagall had arranged this coded message to use if it appeared Voldemort and the death eaters were beginning to round up muggleborns, and agreed to only use it in an extreme emergency. Hermione was the brains of the Golden Trio, and everyone in the Order agreed it would be safest for her to go into hiding in an unknown location, as she was also the most vulnerable since she was a muggleborn.

Landing on her feet in front of Mrs. Black's portrait at Grimauld Place, she quickly grabbed her bags from her room and changed into clothing she had stashed there for just this plan, and summoned Kreacher. "Kreacher, I need you to pack everything from my rooms at Hogwarts and bring it to me here as quickly as you can." Once Kreacher appeared with the rest of her belongings, she apparated away again, the crack waking Mrs. Black as she left. Making multiple apparitions to throw any death eaters off her tail, she finally landed at her destination of Heathrow Airport, in the wizarding entry, which was an empty restroom. Looking around to ensure she was alone, Hermione did a few quick cosmetic spells to conceal her distinctive looks – all the sessions of Lavender and her friends forcing makeovers on her in the dorms had finally come in handy. Unfortunately, while she could change her hair and skin color, she had never been able to master changing her eye color without help from Ginny or Lavender, and so she left them as is, hoping that no one would recognize her signature chocolate brown eyes. She cursed herself for thinking she had more time to plan for this plan – she had intended to pick up muggle contacts when she went home during the next break. She slipped into the muggle clothing she had packed, and used her wand to shrink and lighten as much of her baggage as possible without arising suspicion. Easing the door to the restroom open, she glanced around to ensure she was alone, and then slipped out the door heading for the muggle section of the airport.

"I need a one-way ticket to New York City please," she said to the clerk, handing over her baggage for the clerk to check. One would have never recognized the girl standing there as Hermione Granger, a Hogwarts student, or even a witch for that matter. Dressed in a black silk abaya with a colorful green hijab covering her hair and a niqab over the face so that only her eyes were visible, she looked every bit the respectful young muslimah college student returning home after a trip to visit family abroad. "And what name will this ticket be under?" "Amira Black," replied Hermione with a smile, handing over her magically altered identification to the clerk. "Here's your ticket Ms. Black, enjoy your trip." "Thank you, I will," she said as she headed for the airport screening section. As she passed through screening, she caught a glance of the wizarding side of the airport, which was invisible to muggle passengers and just looked like empty bays. A barrier similar to the one at Platform 9 3/4 separated it from the muggle side of the airport, but wizards could see through the barrier. There were several death eaters checking everyone sitting there and taking custody of those of muggle heritage. "I am so glad I decided to travel as a muggle," she thought to herself, hoping they wouldn't notice her there.

She sat where she could just barely see the Wizarding section over a corner of the assistance desk, watching to see what happened next. After rounding up all the muggleborns, the death eater who seemed to be in charge chained them together like prisoners and portkeyed them away. One of the junior death eaters walked closer to the barrier and looked out over the muggle passengers gathered there. She knew in an instant that it was Draco Malfoy from the bright silver eyes hiding behind the silver mask he wore. "Please don't let him recognize me," she thought to herself, trying mentally to make herself look as inconspicuous as possible without using any magic. Some people, with the aid of a potion, could see the shimmer of magic and so she didn't want to risk a notice-me-not charm or the like, especially on top of her altered appearance.

She had grown somewhat close to the blonde slytherin over the past year as he was head boy and she head girl and as such, they shared a common room and patrolled together at least once a week. He caught her eyes and his widened in recognition of who she was, but then he turned back towards the senior death eater who was calling him. Hermione gathered her things and headed to board the plane, praying with all she had that Malfoy would keep his mouth shut. Malfoy really was not a bad person; he had just been groomed for the role of death eater since birth without any other option. She had tried to make him see the possibility of defecting to the side of the light, and knew he was interested but didn't believe it was possible to do so. After they had both gotten drunk in the common room one night just after the start of spring term a month ago, they had come to an agreement and one might even say a friendship. Neither one really remembered exactly what had gone on that night in the common room, but Hermione had a pretty good idea that it involved them hooking up in some manner since she woke up in his bed, although he wasn't in it when she woke. Malfoy had never brought it up again, but she had suspicions that he remembered at least part of that night.


End file.
